The Alaska Federation of Natives announced its two keynote speakers for this year’s convention, and both are from western Alaska. The AFN Board of Directors selected Megan Alvanna-Stimpfle to speak alongside Emil Notti.

Notti is an Athabascan from the Yukon River village of Koyukuk. He served as AFN’s first president and played an important role in the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in 1971.

While her family is originally from King Island, Megan Alvanna-Stimpfle was born and raised in Nome.

“I feel truly honored and thank the Alaska Federation of Natives Board of Directors for their confidence in me,” Alvanna-Stimpfle said in response to the announcement.

Megan Alvanna-Stimpfle. Photo courtesy of Megan Alvanna-Stimpfle.

She earned her Master’s in Applied Economics from Johns Hopkins University and served as a legislative assistant for Senator Lisa Murkowski in Washington DC.

“My generation has many options in life,” Alvanna-Stimpfle said. While she says there’s still a lot of work to be done to preserve and promote Alaska Native culture, Alvanna-Stimpfle remains optimistic.

“We are empowered with the political and economic tools to assert who we are as Alaska’s indigenous people and live our way of life on our lands,” she said.

Alvanna-Stimpfle is currently working alongside Kawerak, Norton Sound Health Corporation, elected leaders and the Native community on reforming sewer and water systems in the region. To do that, she says the system needs to be reformed statewide.

Alvanna-Stimpfle also serves on the Nome Port Commission and is an elected member of the King Island Tribal Council.

“AFN is honored to have both distinguished and emerging leaders speak to our delegates,” said AFN President Julie Kitka in the announcement of the keynote speakers.

AFN is the largest annual gathering of Natives in Alaska. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the convention, which will take place in Fairbanks between October 20-22, 2016.

BETHEL, Alaska — Between low snow, tight finances, and a series of suicides, the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta has had a hard year. That’s according to organizers of the 2016 Cama-i Dance Festival, which ended Sunday night in Bethel.

Their goal for this year’s festival was to recognize the resilience of Y-K communities and get people drumming, dancing, and celebrating.

“You can rise above what’s going in your life,” said Peter Atchak. “You just have to work together and be together.”

Atchak is an emcee and organizer of the 2016 Cama-i Dance Festival. He said this year’s theme was all about honoring resilience: “Nunalgutkellriit Piniutiit Cauyakun. Community Strength Through Drumming.”

Community strength has been critical in the Delta, according to Atchak’s fellow organizer Linda Curda. She said the entire region has experienced tough times lately, but one community in particular inspired the theme, after suffering four suicides in about two weeks last fall.

“This past year, Hooper Bay has experienced just tragedy,” said Curda. “So we looked at some of the issues, and what did we want to do? We wanted to say that this festival is about the strength of who we are. We wanted to really nurture that, support it, and applaud it.”

Wilma Bell-Joe is from Hooper Bay, and she said the community is still grieving.

“It was a big hurt, but we’re trying to go back,” she said.

That’s back to celebrating the good things, without forgetting what happened. Bell-Joe works with the youth dance group in Hooper Bay. She said her dancers learn about Yup’ik values and healthy living as part of practice.

The young performers were invited to join the Hooper Bay Traditional Dancers at Cama-i this year. While the adults and elders missed the festival due to poor weather in Hooper Bay, Bell-Joe said her group got out in time and was thrilled to take the stage.

“To hear that the Traditional Dancers included them, that totally tickled everybody,” she said. “They’re like, ‘We’re actually doing what our ancestors did!’ It’s pretty cool to walk in the footsteps of an ancestor.”

During the three-day celebration at the Bethel Regional High School, more than two-dozen groups took turns performing. In addition to the Hooper Bay dancers, the festival featured groups from across the Y-K Delta, the state of Alaska, and the Lower 48 — from Anchorage and the Aleutians to Chevak and California.

All of the groups came together on Saturday night for the Heart of the Drums. The performance had drummers wrap around the gym and beat their instruments in unison.

Curda said the Heart of the Drums began 15 years ago to celebrate the passion and tradition shared by all the performers and people in attendance.

“At Cama-i, we have many different languages and many different dance styles,” said Curda. “But drumming is just that common connection — that common heartbeat. It’s our common humanity and heartbeat.”

Cama-i organizers also recognized invididuals for their contributions to the community. The festival was dedicated to the late Paul John of Toksook Bay for his efforts to keep Yup’ik dancing and drumming alive in the Delta.

Chevak’s David Boyscout won the Living Treasure Award for influential elders. The 91-year-old teaches ancient Cup’ik dances to the youth, and he accepted his award from Chevak over a live video feed.

A new Miss Cama-i was also crowned. Olivia Shields of Toksook Bay won the cultural pageant and will represent the Delta at this year’s Alaska Federation of Natives Convention and World Eskimo-Indian Olympics.

]]>http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2016/04/04/2016-cama-i-dance-festival-honors-community-resilience-around-the-y-k-delta/feed/122225Selawik VPO Accused of Raping Teen Previously Celebrated at AFNhttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/12/10/selawik-vpo-accused-of-raping-teen-previously-celebrated-at-afn/
http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/12/10/selawik-vpo-accused-of-raping-teen-previously-celebrated-at-afn/#commentsThu, 10 Dec 2015 17:51:34 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=19966Brent Norton is being charged with supplying alcohol to a minor and raping her while she was unconscious. His case brings up questions about the vetting of VPOs.]]>http://www.knom.org/wp-audio/2015/12/2015-12-10-VPO%20Vetting.mp3

A substitute Village Police Officer from the dry village of Selawik is in jail in Nome, awaiting trial. Brent Norton is charged with supplying alcohol to a minor and raping with her while she was unconscious.

One month earlier, Norton received an award at AFN for his dedication to public safety. His case brings up important questions about how VPOs are vetted in villages throughout the state.

On October 17, Norton was presented with the Glen Godfrey Law Enforcement Award at the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention in Anchorage. Each year, the award is given to an Alaska Native Law Enforcement Officer who has shown outstanding dedication to the safety of the public in Alaska.

Norton was recognized for his involvement in a shooting in Selawik this summer. At that time, he had less than six months of experience but was first on the scene. While the victim died from gunshot wounds, Norton risked being shot to retrieve the body.

The Alaska Federation of Natives had no comment on Norton’s award.

One month later, on November 17, 29-year-old Norton allegedly supplied a 16-year-old girl with alcohol and later raped her while she was unconscious.

According to an article published by The Arctic Sounder, the Selawik Clinic received a call from Norton just before 1 a.m. on November 18. Norton described the girl as cold and not breathing. Emergency responders spent twenty minutes trying to resuscitate her before she was declared dead.

Norton’s record was far from clean prior to this year.

In 2006, Norton was arrested and pleaded guilty for transporting alcohol to a dry village. He was arrested for the same charge again in 2012. Then, in June of this year, he was charged with giving alcohol to a 13-year-old girl.

So how did a man with a record for importing and supplying alcohol to minors get hired as a substitute VPO in the dry village of Selawik?

Chris Hatch, program coordinator for Village Public Safety Officers in the Northwest Arctic Borough, explains that each village is solely responsible for hiring its own VPOs.

To be clear, a VPSO, which is what Hatch oversees, is different in many ways from a VPO. A VPSO goes through extensive training and vetting compared to what a VPO is put through. But, there are some safeguards in place.

According to the Alaska Statues, a person with misdemeanor convictions in the last ten years will be “judged on his or her moral character, at the council’s discretion.” A person convicted of a felony in the last ten years is ineligible.

The incident in February of this year, in which he supplied alcohol to a minor, was a Class C Felony. But Norton was a substitute VPO, so under even less scrutiny.

“So what happens in a lot of communities,” Hatch explains, “is they hire a VPO, and then they’ll hire someone to fill in. So, you have a guy who works 20-30 hours a week, but when he leaves for some reason, they have someone to fill in for him. In this case, they’re calling him a substitute VPO.”

While VPOs must pass a background check, the hiring of substitutes is at the discretion of the village. The city of Selawik had no comment for this story.

And according to his introduction at this year’s AFN, Norton’s reputation in Selawik outshone his record. The award presenter explained that “residents describe him as dedicated to helping, and he is known for his courteousness and kindness. He is an example of responsibility, courage, and respect.”

Norton’s involvement in the death of a Selawik teen will add another felony to his record if he’s convicted. He’s being held at the Anvil Mountain Correctional Center in Nome, with bail set at $50,000.

]]>http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/12/10/selawik-vpo-accused-of-raping-teen-previously-celebrated-at-afn/feed/119966College Students Respond to Recent Suicides With Song Offering Supporthttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/10/28/college-students-respond-to-recent-suicides-with-song-offering-support/
Wed, 28 Oct 2015 18:16:40 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=19250Cameron Smith and Forest Strick record under the name “AK’s Finest,” and their latest song is all about spreading peace, love, and positivity.]]>http://www.knom.org/wp-audio/2015/10/2015-10-28-AKs-Finest.mp3

The recent spate of suicides in western Alaska — as well as the very public death at the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention — has shocked many around the state. That includes college students Cameron Smith and Forest Strick, who were in Hawaii for school when they saw the headlines.

Far from home, the Alaska Native musicians dealt with the difficult news by putting on their headphones and picking up the mic. The hip-hop duo record under the name “AK’s Finest,” and their latest song is all about spreading peace, love, and positivity — especially to those who are struggling.

Cameron Smith and Forest Strick are from Alaska, but they became friends after meeting at college in Colorado. They started producing music together about a year ago, and they both recently transferred to schools in Hilo, Hawaii. That’s where they heard the news.

“We were chilling one night, and we heard about the suicide that happened at AFN. I was just blown away. I didn’t know what to do, and it was just really a lot for me,” said Cameron, who is from Nome. “We decided that we wanted to make a song for Alaska. We wanted to make a song for our home to give back and let people know that this has got to stop. We need peace, love, and positivity — P.L.P.”

Cameron says he and Forest started working on the song at 4 a.m. Cameron penned the rap, while Forest — who grew up in McGrath and Wasilla — created the beat. A little over 24 hours later, the song was ready.

“P.L.P.” was released on SoundCloud last week and has already been played nearly 900 times on the music-sharing website. Forest said he’s excited about the positive response, and he hopes the song can motivate Alaskans when times are tough — just like music has done for him in the past.

“I go back to my hardest days in life, and it’s always been that one song that I’ve had on my playlist,” said Forest. “There’s always been that one song that keeps your day going. You know, having a hard day at work, having a hard day at school — it just keeps you going through that day. And if this song helps out just a few people in Alaska, that’s a dream come true.”

Another dream of theirs is to make music professionally. At school, Cameron majors in kinesiology and human movement, while Forest is looking to study business, but they’ve heard from people interested in using the song as part of suicide prevention programs. And someday, they hope to perform at schools and speak with students around Alaska, sharing their positive message through songs like “P.L.P.”

Whatever their futures may hold, the duo said they’ll return to Alaska after graduating, and they’ll continue making music to support their home state.

To listen to “P.L.P” and hear more music by AK’s Finest, visit their SoundCloud page.

NSEDC has released the unofficial results from recent elections, which had locals from five communities vote on their representatives for the corporation’s board.

The Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation has board members from its 15 member communities around the region. And last week, the seats serving Nome, Elim, Savoonga, Teller, and St. Michael were up on local ballots.

St. Michael, however, saw a tie between incumbent Milton Cheemuk and newcomer Frankie Myomick. The City of St. Michael will hold a tiebreaker next week after the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention.

NSEDC will confirm the election results and swear in new members at their board meeting in November.

]]>18983In Kivalina, Interior Secretary Jewell Hears “Real Stories” from Community Living with Climate Changehttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/02/17/in-kivalina-interior-secretary-jewell-hears-real-stories-from-community-living-with-climate-change/
http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/02/17/in-kivalina-interior-secretary-jewell-hears-real-stories-from-community-living-with-climate-change/#commentsTue, 17 Feb 2015 20:41:50 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=14491Jewell was in Kivalina Monday to hear what residents say are their concerns as erosion linked to climate change and rising sea levels threatens their way of life—and the very island the community is built upon.]]>http://www.knom.org/wp-audio/2015/02/2015-02-17-Jewell-in-Kivalina.mp3

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell was in the northwest coast community of Kivalina Monday, to hear what residents say are their concerns as erosion linked to climate change and rising sea levels threatens their subsistence way of life—and the very island the community is built upon.

Jewell was invited by the Alaska Federation of Natives to speak at their retreat in Kotzebue, an invitation that drew state lawmakers—including Governor Bill Walker and Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallott—to northwest Alaska to confront the secretary on recent federal decisions they say will limit oil and gas development on federal lands and waters across the state, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and offshore oil exploration in the Chukchi Sea.

Jewell planned a trip of her own, to nearby Kivalina, about an hour’s flight from the Kotzebue hub. She planned to tour the village and meet with residents, to hear firsthand their concerns on a changing climate and a warming Arctic. Residents like Becky Norton, who has lived in Kivalina all her life, and has seen what erosion has done to the small community on a barrier island between the Chuckchi Sea and the Kivalina Lagoon.

“My husband built a cabin, with family, a two-story cabin about eight miles upriver,” she said, walking into town from the airstrip Monday afternoon. The wind was still and temperatures hovered around 20ºF. Norton said her family built their cabin “about 30 feet away from the bank. And the bank, where we are, it’s pretty high. When we park, we have to climb up and walk to our cabin.”

She said the cabin was used for years, a summer subsistence camp for her kids and her 22 grandkids.

All told, the school and road could cost upwards of $120 million. Solving the erosion issue, and possibly relocating the entire village, could cost millions more.

Jewell listened, made introductions, and posed for photos before hopping in the back of a pickup truck for a tour of the village with tribal president Millie Hawley.

“This is the home that was in danger of falling into the lagoon, until they put the rock revetments,” Hawley said.

“They put that on the outskirts, there?” Jewell asked, motioning to what appeared to be a pile of snow along both sides of the house.

“You can’t see it now, because it’s all covered with snow,” Hawley said, adding that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers installed the revetments.

Further along the tour, the truck slowed along the side of the island that borders the Chukchi sea. In the distance, seal hunters were on the hunt and poised on the ice. “We used to be able to get fish out here,” Hawley said, “but we haven’t gotten fish for four years,” she said mostly due to ice conditions. When Jewell asked why, Hawley explained a “late start” to the annual ice now freezes to the bottom of the lagoon, “which stays until the fish have already migrated out to the ocean.”

Jewell’s tour ended at the airstrip, not far from the plane that would take her back to Kotzebue. Before she left, she saw the charred remains of the community’s only store, which burned down in December; the homes sinking, and sometimes falling, into the Chukchi Sea and lagoon; the brown tundra and jumbled ice that looked more like breakup than mid-February, which can often make caribou herds inaccessible.

Her time in Kivalina was brief, with every minute scheduled to keep her busy until her departure. But Jewell said it was worth the effort to see things firsthand.

“It’s hard to understand the impact in the abstract. When you see it up close, you really get a much better feel for the passion, the fear, the importance to culture and lifestyle that’s all at risk here,” Jewell said. “Not to mention just their lives, which are at risk on a little spit like this.”

When asked what she’ll bring back to Washington from her visit to Kivalina, Jewell said what she takes back will be “very real stories, stories from people who have personally experienced this change.”

A new school, erosion mitigation efforts the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has already laid out, and more—all things Jewell said need to be part of the discussion when she returns to Washington. But concrete next steps remained elusive.

“I think the most important part is just trying to understand, what are the various moving pieces and prats that we can in fact influence,” she said. The new school is a state responsibility, Jewell said, adding that the Corps of Engineers should continue with projects already undertaken in Kivalina. “I don’t know what those [next] steps are going to be yet, until I go back and learn more about who’s involved. But what I do know is the situation out here is very serious, and it’s indicative of the kind of impacts we’re seeing in climate change everywhere, that this is probably the beginning of what may be to come in other areas.”

Tribal president Hawley said the secretary’s visit was brief, but in the end, she thought it was a success.

“I feel like we’ve done the job,” she said after the truckbed tour. “That was the main purpose, and we’ve done a good job with that, the village has done a good job with that.”

As for Becky Norton, whose family cabin fell into the river last summer, she said just how good of a job will be determined by what Jewell does next.

“It all depends on how she takes it, and pass it on to wherever it needs to go, to get us help,” she said. “And that’s all we need, is help. To continue with our evacuation road, relocation, and get our school built.”

Addressing Governor Bill Walker, and the host of other lawmakers who came to northwest Alaska to meet with Jewell, Norton said finding money for the community’s new school and road could happen if they want it.

“It’s priorities,” she said. “And our priority is the safety of our people. We can’t put a price tag on our family, on our kids. So we have to work hard to try and find solutions to protect them.”

]]>http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/02/17/in-kivalina-interior-secretary-jewell-hears-real-stories-from-community-living-with-climate-change/feed/114491Gavel-to-Gavel for AFN 2014http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2014/11/25/gavel-to-gavel-for-afn-2014/
Wed, 26 Nov 2014 00:41:54 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=13204A special highlight of KNOM’s broadcast schedule and news reporting earlier this year was the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) convention, held in late October in downtown Anchorage. In more ways than one, your support allowed us to bring this important gathering to our listeners.]]>

A special highlight of KNOM’s broadcast schedule and news reporting this autumn was the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) convention, held in late October in downtown Anchorage.

Through your support, we sent news director Matthew Smith to report on this vital annual gathering of Alaska Native representatives from throughout our state, while, in Nome, we aired gavel-to-gavel coverage of the event.

At this year’s AFN convention, Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins of Sitka, Nome’s Bernadette Yaayuk Alvanna-Stimpfle, and others look on as Governor Sean Parnell signs a bill into law making 20 Alaska Native languages into official state languages. (Photo: Matthew F. Smith, KNOM.)

On the final day of the 2014 Alaska Federation of Natives convention, the organization made several official endorsements for candidates and ballot issues set to go before voters during the November election.

The pair merged their campaigns back in September, when Walker, at the time a Republican running as an independent, agreed to combine with then-Democratic candidate Mallott. The agreement saw Walker drop any Republican party affiliation, while the Democratic party agreed not to run a candidate against the “unity” ticket.

AFN also announced endorsements of Democratic incumbent Mark Begich in the U.S. Senate race against Republican challenger Dan Sullivan.

The endorsements came after the convention approved a slate of 50 resolutions, ranging from subsistence to energy to education issues. Those resolutions also included a measure formally opposing Ballot Measure 2, the initiative that would legalize the growth, sale, and use of marijuana for adults over the age of 21.

AFN’s board did not take any formal stance on Ballot Measures 3 or 4, which deal with raising the state’s minimum wage and limiting development of mining resources near Bristol Bay, respectively.

In recent years, AFN has shied away from endorsing candidates, but the federation’s endorsement of Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski was pivotal in her 2010 write-in bid, after she lost the state’s Republican primary to Fairbanks lawyer Joe Miller.

The AFN endorsement was made behind closed doors, open to only a few delegates from across the state.

Independently, and some time before the AFN endorsement, Bering Straits Native Corporation spokesperson Miriam Aarons said BSNC had also endorsed the Walker/Mallot unity ticket, as well as Begich’s re-election.

While AFN did not endorse either candidate in the U.S. House race between Don Young and Forrest Dunbar, Aarons said BSNC has chosen to endorse Young.

Alaska’s general election is Tuesday, Nov. 4.

]]>12508Food Security, Climate Change Top Rural Agenda at AFNhttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2014/10/27/food-security-climate-change-top-rural-agenda-at-afn/
http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2014/10/27/food-security-climate-change-top-rural-agenda-at-afn/#commentsMon, 27 Oct 2014 22:53:49 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=12499Even while celebrating the legal victory of Katie John, many at AFN recognized the challenges to food security posed by climate change that still lie ahead.]]>http://www.knom.org/wp-audio/2014/10/2014-10-27-afn-bush-caucus.mp3

Climate change and food security were the focus of much of the conversation about rural areas at this year’s Alaska Federation of Natives convention.

But this year’s AFN convention was also focused on celebration for Katie John, the Athabascan woman whose fight to use her family’s traditional subsistence fishing grounds along the Copper River was at the heart of nearly three decades of litigation that focused on state or federal supremacy along Alaska rivers—and, by extension, the priority of subsistence users on those waterways throughout the state.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the state’s appeal in the Katie John case back in March, effectively closing the case, but the victory for subsistence users that was just shy of 30 years in the making didn’t fade in the intervening months, and a sense of triumph was pervasive throughout this year’s convention.

“We [in the Bering Strait/Norton Sound] have been just as involved as any other region in the Katie John issue over the years,” said Robert Keith, chair of regional nonprofit Kawerak. “So it’s a bit of a celebratory mood for us in our region.”

Despite the legal victory, Keith and others at AFN said they know issues remain; rapid environmental changes like rising sea levels, coastal erosion, and thawing permafrost are growing burdens on subsistence users who rely on healthy ecosystems, according to AFN’s committee on climate change.

Those burdens more acutely felt in Alaska than elsewhere in the country, said Fran Ulmer, a former state legislator, Juneau mayor, and lieutenant governor, who now heads the nation’s Arctic Research Commission. Ulmer said the committee is emphasizing local action when state and federal bodies move too slowly.

“Communities have to be better prepared to accept the change, to anticipate it, and to rely on themselves to be able to deal with things like the flooding in Galena that took place,” she said to AFN attendees Friday.

Co-management of subsistence resources was highlighted as a way to improve food security for Alaskans in rural areas, particularly when it comes to declining salmon stocks on the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers.

Myron Naneng with the Association of Village Council Presidents said a long-sought “seat at the table” for subsistence users could become a reality with the announcement of a new pilot project of tribal co-management planned for the Kuskokwim River. It was a move Naneng and others pushed for after years of Chinook salmon decline and unprecedented fishing restrictions this past summer.

“Right now, out in the Bering Sea, there’s an allocation for the trawl fleet, and an allocation for escapement into Canada,” Naneng said. “In between are people that live on the river system. We need our people to have an allocation, for food. Because of the uncertainties we have seen throughout the years with that management system, our people are going to have to be involved directly in the management and have a say in when to fish and when not to fish.”

Neither Naneng nor federal officials developing the pilot project could say how long before any project would be in place. In her address to the convention Saturday, Senator Lisa Murkowski said officials think it could take up to 18 months. With summer fishing just eight months away, Murkowski said she remains skeptical, and wants more information on the plan.

“I’m not even certain that we agree on how we define co-management,” she said. “I want to make sure co-management is more than a check-the-box exercise when it comes to some consultation. It has to mean that you are sitting at the table as an equal participant,” Murkowski said, to applause.

The Bush Caucus, connecting lawmakers from the Southeast to Bristol Bay and up through the Norton Sound and the North Slope, spoke to legislative accomplishments in energy this past year, like the fully-funded Power Cost Equalization program, as well as provisions in the state’s gas line deals that would divert portions of gas revenue to rural areas.

Representative Bryce Edgmon from Dillingham pledged climate change and food security concerns will go before the state’s own Arctic Policy Commission, and will also be pushed at the federal level when the U.S. chairs the international Arctic Council in April.

“We’re all working hard to make sure anything related to the arctic properly recognizes the important role that indigenous people play, and also, as we heard earlier, the issue of climate change is properly recognized,” Edgmon said.

Kawerak chair Keith said, despite the enthusiasm for the Katie John victory, he and others in rural areas across Alaska remain keenly aware of the struggles that lie ahead.

“Fighting for our ability to feed ourselves is going to continue,” Keith said, “and I think the pressures are going to continue on our resources. And with the change in the climate, it’s going to be ongoing challenges for us to live off the land.”

The annual AFN convention concluded Saturday evening with closing remarks from Evon Peter, the Vice Chancellor for Rural, Community, and Native Education at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

]]>http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2014/10/27/food-security-climate-change-top-rural-agenda-at-afn/feed/112499NANA President Receives AFN ‘Citizen of the Year’ Awardhttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2014/10/27/nana-president-receives-afn-citizen-of-the-year-award/
Mon, 27 Oct 2014 21:31:48 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=12495Marie Kasaŋnaaluk Greene, originally from Deering and now living and working in Kotzebue, took the stage to accept the honor Friday.]]>

A longtime leader of NANA Regional Corporation has been awarded the 2014 Citizen of the Year award at AFN this morning.

Marie Kasaŋnaaluk Greene, originally from Deering and now living and working in Kotzebue, took the stage to accept the honor Friday.

Greene is the president and CEO of NANA Regional Corporation, and during her time with NANA, she also worked with the OTZ Telephone Cooperative, the AFN organization, and she’s served on finance, workforce development, and education committees for the northwest Arctic.

Surrounded by her family on stage—her sister, her children, and more—Greene said her work has been a reflection of the women who nurtured her, as well as her faith.

“My grandmother, Nellie Carmen, raised me. And I give all that I know, with my heart and soul, to my mother, Nellie Carmen. It’s been through the grace of god, and how grateful I am, to be able to serve in any capacity. It is an honor, and a privilege.”

Before leaving the stage, Greene received gifts from the AFN committee, and asked that she and her family sing a traditional Inupiaq song before leaving the stage.

Alice Rogoff was the co-owner of news website the Alaska Dispatch, which recently bought the Anchorage Daily News to form the Alaska Dispatch News. Rogoff was awarded this year’s Denali Award, AFN’s highest honor for non-natives.